Nomad

A nomad is defined as “a member of a community of people who live in different locations, moving from one place to another in search of grasslands for their animals.” But it would be hard to imagine any Nomad resident ever straying for grasslands beyond Madison Square Park. After a series of incarnations over the years, Nomad is now a super hip, bustling neighborhood from morning through night with residents, technology businesses (it’s now being referred to as “Silicon Alley”), loads of retail (leaning heavily toward design), great architecture, hot hotels, and tons and tons of food.

Named for its location north of Madison Square Park, Nomad’s borders are a bit fuzzy but generally, they run east-west from Lexington Avenue to Sixth Avenue and north-south from 23rd to 33rd Streets. Douglas Elliman’s Bruce Ehrmann says, “Nomad is the great link between Madison Square Park, Midtown South, Murray Hill and 5th Avenue.”

From smooth marble to luxe leather in dark tones of charcoal and slate, this floor-through pad at 151 West 28th Street at the intersection of Chelsea, Nomad and the Flatiron Districts combines classic loft detail with modern design. At 1,800 square feet, you’re getting a fair amount of space for $2.25 million; there are currently two bedrooms, an interior “bonus” room, and the opportunity to create closet and storage space. But there’s so much open space you’ll always know you’re in a Manhattan loft.Tour this elegant loft

Leonardo DiCaprio has spent the last few months breaking in a newly-minted three-bedroom penthouse apartment at the shiny new development at 172 Madison Avenue, according to the New York Post. He’s starring in Quentin Tarantino’s Charles Manson-themed movie, set to be released in 2019–his first big gig since his Oscar turn in 2015’s “The Revenant.” Leo has been living in a three-bedroom unit in the recently-completed luxury condo “for several months,” a spy says.

There will be a lot of firsts at 262 Fifth Avenue—Nomad‘s first supertall, Moscow-based firm Meganom‘s first U.S. project, and NYC’s first Russian-designed supertall. 6sqft first uncovered renderings of the super-skinny, 1,009-foot skyscraper in May, revealing its aluminum and glass facade and “striking arched observation deck” at its top. Now, Yimby has gotten its hands on a new rendering, just a day after the Department of Buildings approved plans for the project.

Bronx native and superstar J.Lo is selling her duplex penthouse in the Whitman, a luxurious condominium conversion at 21 East 26th Street, for $26.95 million. Lopez, who currently stars in the television show “Shades of Blue,” first purchased the Nomad pad in 2014 for $20.16 million. As the New York Times reported, the four-bedroom apartment overlooks Madison Square Park, spans 6,540 square feet on the building’s top two floors, and includes an additional 3,000 square feet of outdoor space spread across four sprawling terraces. Though Jenny from the Block will be departing (and taking her Grammy pictured above with her!), the next owner can still hobnob with the building’s other A-listers Chelsea Clinton and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.

Adding to the sudden skyscraper boom in NoMad, HFZ Capital Group is moving forward with plans for a project at 3 West 29th Street. HFZ’s original idea for the redevelopment of the site, which once held the now-demolished 1898 Bancroft Building, included iconic architect Moshe Safdie designing a 64-floor, 830-foot tall condo. However, instead, a pre-filed building application from earlier this month calls for a 33-foot office tower designed by Bjarke Ingels of BIG Architects, as CityRealty learned.

Breaking: Lester Holt has sold his classy Nomad apartment for $6.4 million, just under the $6.6 million he listed it for in April, reports the Post. The NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC anchor bought the three-bedroom spread at 225 Fifth Avenue for $3.3 million in 2007. Along with the impressive views of Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building and a private terrace, the sale was likely helped along by the fact that Holt’s wife, Carol Hagen-Holt, was one of the listing brokers.

Last summer, the Department of Buildings halted progress on developers J.D. Carlisle and Fosun Group’s planned condo tower at 15 East 30th Street over the fact that a planned second-floor outdoor space didn’t meet minimum space requirements. Presumably having ironed that out, (though we’re not sure the same can be said for the neighbors angry about losing their views) designers Handel Architects have released a slew of new renderings of the 756-foot-tall tower, which will have 180 units spread over 51 floors. Uncovered by Yimby, the views show a narrow, glassy structure with a jagged pinnacle and undulating base.

Just yesterday, 6sqft shared renderings of Moscow-based firm Meganom’s super-skinny, 1,001-foot-tall tower headed for 262 Fifth Avenue in Nomad. Now, CityRealty has uncovered another slender contender for the neighborhood, this svelte 40-story condo tower designed by Morris Adjmi for 30 East 31st Street. The site formerly held the ornate Romanesque Revival parish house of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, which, to the dismay of preservationists, was demolished in 2015 by Elkstein Development Group. However, Adjmi, known for his contextual sensitivity, will reference the church’s Gothic details, with six hefty columns that emphasize its 469-foot height and assume a diagrid pattern on the upper floors resembling the barrel-vaulted ceilings of a cathedral.

Joining the ranks of supertall, super-skinny skyscrapers like 432 Park, 111 West 57th Street, and 125 Greenwich Street comes 262 Fifth Avenue in Nomad (h/t Dezeen). The first U.S. project by Moscow-based firm Meganom, the residential tower will soar to 1,001 feet, which will make it the tallest structure between the Empire State Building and One WTC, stealing the title by a longshot from the 777-foot 45 East 22nd Street. The architects say the project “will include several ‘firsts’ in terms of its design and environmental sustainability features,” and that it will boast “a striking arched observation deck” at its top.